Oddendale Cairn I

Cairn(s)

Oddendale Cairn I (Cairn(s)) on The Modern Antiquarian, the UK & Ireland's most popular megalithic community website. 9 images, 3 fieldnotes, plus information on many more ancient sites nearby and across the UK & Ireland.

Images (click to view fullsize)

Fieldnotes

I neglected to read any of the field or misc notes before I came here, I'd seen the pictures and thought "ah, that's a nice little circle", and it was too. The three little stones in the circle center are like part of a mini limestone pavement, it's all very attractive, too attractive it turns out. Upon my return I find out it might not be ancient, how disappointing, I would have liked it to have been old, it doesn't impact upon my actual time there, obviously, but, like, you know, what ever, it's still a nice little ring in a nice place.

This lovely little cairn circle is just beside the entrance to the village of Oddendale. It is situted on a bridleway and close to the path to Shap. It has the feeling of a small shine possibly to protect the village. As I spent some time here a bloody great buzzard flew overhead and seemed to lazily check me out.
The circle is only 5 metres across with 12 outer stones and 3 inners.
Someone had scrawled a notice on a slate informing any passers-by of the fact that this is a 'stone circle'

This little cairn circle lies immediately to the left of the farm track leading to the Oddendale circle, just by the drystone wall. A pretty little circle, quite unassuming, but worth a look if you are intending to visit the main circle.

In his 2007 book, Prehistoric Monuments of the Lake District, Tom Clare states that, in 1972 the author was assured by a resident that he had not built it. However thirty years later the story has changed.

"One other local site should be mentioned in this context, the "miniature" stone circle at NY59281334, adjacent to the entrance to Oddendale hamlet. Although it seems to have existed beyond local memory the monument is unconvincing, the stones not earthfast. It was probably made in the spirit of waggishness, perhaps in imitation of the true Oddendale stone circle, within the fairly recent past. See Cumbria Sites and Monuments record, number 1575."